As explored in a previous article, freedom of expression is deemed a basic human right by the Catholic Church. It is meant to be a safeguard for acting according to one’s conscience, which is very often based on religious convictions and moral certitude. A true democracy does not trample on people’s God-given rights of exercising their faith and convictions.
Laws which go against the natural law do not grant true freedom, yet we see these proliferating around the world today. Under the guise of “liberty and personal autonomy,” submission to the will of the government is the order of the day, by way of immoral laws that contradict the natural law. For example, the intentional ending of human life is morally wrong, evil in fact, yet euthanasia and abortion laws—and the subjective language surrounding them—have many people believing them to be good and true “freedoms.”
So-Called Reproductive Rights: Abortion Is Killing; It Is Not a Freedom
Abortion has been accepted as a “right” in our culture due to the insidiously clever incorporation of key words like “choice,” “freedom,” and “fundamental right.” Society has let itself be manipulated into believing that the killing of an innocent child is freedom. It isn’t. It is an inhumane destruction of human life at its most vulnerable period of development. The baby in the womb is defenseless. The preborn child is the one whose fundamental rights have been usurped. The child in the womb should have the same rights as a person outside the womb. Labelling abortion as freedom and a right is a lie. It is an evil choice which goes against the commandment of God of not killing.
Assisted Dying Is the Murder of Our Sick and Elderly Population; It Is Not Liberty
Advocates and proponents of euthanasia and physician-assisted dying use the same narrative as the advocates for abortion: freedom to choose. What they are in fact choosing is death. They are de facto negating the belief that God created man and will call man back to Himself when He so chooses. It is not up to the created being to usurp God’s prerogative. Euthanasia advocates demand, and impose, their view of ending their lives on their own terms. Governments around the world, including Canada and France, among others, have signed on to this deadly cultural worldview, which eventually will lead to more expansions for assisted dying.
I see it constantly in Canada; now that physician-assisted death has been legalized since 2016, there is an agenda to allow access to assisted death based on mental illness, such as depression and PTSD. A Special Joint Committee on medical assistance in dying started a review of this matter involving mental illness and euthanasia in February 2026. Their goal was to assess whether Canada was indeed ready to expand the eligibility rules to include mental disorders as eligible for MAID.
Providentially, on June 17, 2026, they gained a foothold in Parliament. They recommended that the Canadian government indefinitely pause said expansion for sufferers of mental illness alone. The expansion had been set to take place on March 17, 2027, on St. Patrick’s Day, of all days! However, on October 7, 2026, according to the CBC, Justice Minister Sean Fraser has stated: “Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code of medical assistance in dying in circumstances where mental illness is the sole basis.” This being said, pro-life activists must continue to bring concrete arguments to the table to ensure that people with mental disorders are always afforded proper care and treatments rather than a legal pass to state-sanctioned death. We must remain vigilant.
Hate Laws: A Regime of Silence and Compelled Speech
Speech itself is under threat in many countries, aiming to restrict one’s ability to speak of such matters as abortion and euthanasia from a Christian, prolife perspective. For example, there is a legal push to curb freedom of expression in Europe. In the European Union (EU), there is now a new law called the DSA, Digital Services Act, which is curbing people’s freedom of speech online. Major platforms are being strictly monitored under the guise of safety and rooting out “hate.” There is a four-minute video, produced by ADF International (Alliance Defending Freedom International), outlining the basics of the DSA, which I recommend as must-see viewing to understand what is at stake regarding freedom of expression.
Then we have Canada and its Hate Law: the government has redefined the Hate Law under Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code with Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act which will effectively criminalize the use of religion, such as quoting the Bible to express one’s opposition to laws which conflict with one’s faith. The government has the means to “codify a definition of ‘hatred’ to clarify when conduct constitutes a hate crime.” This signifies that the government decides what constitutes hate.
For example, during a parliamentary Justice Committee meeting about Bill C-9 on October 30, 2025, one Member of Parliament (MP) said that the Bible contained hate speech and people quoting it should be prosecuted: “In Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans…there’s other passages…there is clear hatred towards, for example, homosexuals…there should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.” On June 17, 2026, the Bill passed the final step of Royal Assent and is now the law of the land. This is part of the growing trend of the erosion of free speech in our culture, targeting our very means of sharing objective truth and freedom with others.
Final Reflection
In this age of ideological rhetoric and relativistic narrative concerning the human person, let us pray that God will give His followers the courage and wherewithal to combat the lies and the evil laws which are being promulgated throughout the world. Let us go forth in truth, bravely confounding the enemy of our God-given rights to life, freedom, and the pursuit of true happiness, which finds its ultimate realization in God, not in an undemocratic government.
Author’s Note: This is the abridged version of the original article “A True Democracy Respects God-Given Rights” previously posted on Catholic365, an open publishing platform for Catholic writers.
Photo by Антон Воробьев on Unsplash
